Interactive Whiteboards

Let me just start by saying that I absolutely love this technology! Interactive whiteboards can add so much to a lesson. They are such a great way to get kids involved in a lesson and the kids will enjoy it and can really have a lot of fun with it too. It offers so much to a teacher and has tons of features for you to add into any presentation. From exciting backgrounds to the basic ability to move things around on each slide during a presentation while locking others in place, to the many interactive activities that SMART provides with their software, resources just seem to be endless.
They can enhance teaching by providing a more exciting way of presenting information to students, because the more that their learning is enhanced, the more your teaching is enhanced. Also, the technology comes with many features in every subject. They are divided into backgrounds, images, and interactives, and you can just browse through categories or search, making it easy to find just what you are looking for. The interactives provide a lot of great ways to present information to the students that you may not have otherwise been able to do. They are great for capturing attention and including everyone. They can also enhance student learning greatly. The interactive nature of the technology makes it much easier for many students to focus, and makes it very easy for all students to get involved.
The technology was fairly simple to learn, especially on the basic level, and already having knowledge of software such as powerpoint, because the basics are the same, however the SMART technology allows movement and further interaction to be added into the slides. Things were all very easy to find, and simple to understand how to use. The only thing that was difficult about learning the technology for me was that some of the things I am used to having in microsoft softwares, weren't there, such as crop, so it was neccessary to find other ways around it to achieve the same goal, which in this case meant using the capture function. Also, though it wasn't difficult for me, if you were starting to learn this on your own, rather than in a class as we did, you may not catch on as fast, and may not even realize that some of the possibilities are there.
In general, interactive whiteboards are great for the classroom, and could be highly benefitial to have installed. Though there are drawbacks, as with anything else, the pros outweigh the cons by far. The first thing to consider when getting an interactive whiteboard is positioning. You will need to make sure that there is a good place to install the whiteboard so that all students can see it as well as reach it. While technical difficulties are common with any technology, and the software may take some time to learn, the benefits to both teacher and student will make it well worth while. Lessons can be made much more interesting and interactive, which will help students to pay attention, helping teachers to get across more information, and have fewer behavioral issues.

Software Productivity

This week in class we learned a lot of different skills for class on the computer. We made a lesson plan template in Word that lets us just tab through to add the information for each lesson. We learned about OdysseyWare and adaptable Online Curriculum which teachers can use in many ways. Students can progress through lessons at their own rate which allows them to review things they don't understand or advance more quickly. It also allows teachers to adapt the curriculum as they see fit. Finally, we used what we learned about Word, Publisher, and Inspiration as well as software production to create our own Newsletter, Flyer, Graphic Organizer, and Quiz.
For the Newsletter we used Microsoft Publisher to produce a 1 page newsletter. I created a newsletter for parents in my imaginary mixed toddler classroom. I chose a template, then added the information that I wanted to give parents for that month. I inserted a picture to go along with one of the topics. I then included a simple listing of upcoming dates.
We used Microsoft Word for the flyer and Quiz. For the flyer I used textboxes, shading, clip art, and more to create a visually pleasing flyer for an upcoming event. I used tables to easily allign the quiz. This made it easy for students to read as well as for me, as the teacher, to grade.
Finally, for the graphic organizer I used inspiration. I created a behavior chart for special education. It required the use of the rapid fire tool as well as inserting graphics into the file. The chart would need to be changed to accomodate each students schedule for each day. Students would be able to add stars to show that the targeted behavior was acheived during each part of the day in order for them to work toward a reward.
It was very benefitial to learn how to do all of these things. As a teacher, I will commonly need to create lesson plans and having a template which I can merely tab through will make it infinitely more easy. Flyers, quizzes, graphic organizers, and newsletters are also all things that teachers need to create often, so learning to create them in the easiest, quickest, and most visually appealing way will be very benefitial. It will make it much easier to make them when the time comes, as well as much faster. Time is key as a teacher, so being able to make these as quickly and efficiently will be very helpful.
I think that Inspiration will be the most useful for me as a teacher. It offers many templates, and you can make anything else you wanted by simply adding and linking more bubbles. It can be used in individual lesson planning, to illustrate concepts to students, for a behavioral chart, for students to create illustrations of topics, or in any number of ways. It allows for a great deal of individuality and makes it easier to follow.